Improvement in machines for cutting sheets of india rubber



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anni @fine CHARLES A. ENSIGN, OF NAUGATUCK, CONNECTICUT.

Letters Patent No. 109,'725, dated November 29,- 1870.

IMPROVEME-NTlN MACHINES lFOIR CUTTING SHEETS ,OF INDIA RUBBER.

The Schedule referredto in thesegLettexs Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern Be it known` that I, CHARLES A. ENsIGN, of Naugatuck,-in the county 'of NewIIavenandState of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Machine for Cutting Sheets of India-Rubber Gum; vand I do hereby declare the following, when 'taken in connection with 4the accompanying drawing. and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawing constitutes part oi'. this specilication, and represents in-f Figure l aside view,'and in e AFigure 2 a longitudinal central section.

4 This invention relatesv to the construction of-a machine for cutting sheets of Indiae'rubber gum (while in a plastic state, or before vulcanization) into strips, to be used in the manufacture of various articles, but chieiiy rover-shoes.

In many branchesof manufacture of India-rubber goods it is necessary to use stripsof gum -while in a plastic state. To cut the strips and handle them after they are cut has been a source of considerable difiicnlty in this class of manufacture, which, by my in-Y ventionis`eutirely overcome: and

It consists- First, in the ,arrangement of 'a rotary cutter combined with a -xed cutter, anda feeding mechanism, to present'thesheet of gum to the fixed cutter so that the revolving cutter will separate'aportion of the gum when the said revolving cutter comes in con taetwith the xed cutter.

Second, in combination with the fixed cutter, aide'- vice for receiving the portions cut from the sheet and taking them away, Yin. such manner as to prev-ent the wrinkling of the strip or portion cut.

. A.' is the frame of Ithe machine which supports the operative mechanism.

.B is the driving-shaft, to -which power is applied, and upon which said shaft is arranged a cutter, a, so as to revolve with the said shaft.

(l is a fixed cutter, in such relative. position to the revolving cutter a that the two combined (that is, the

cutters c passing the fiked'cutter) form a shear, to separate the gum placed between the two.

l 'C is a table, 'arranged upon an endless band, D. Upon the said table a sheet of gum is placed, the said table receiving the'v gum from `the apparatus constructed to work the gum into sheets.

From this table the sheet is passedeover anendles's band, E,V as denoted iu broken lines, down past the cutter d.

The endless band .E is operated by a drum, F, and th'e endless band D by a drum, G, and an intermittent movement given to the said drums from a crank, b, ou the driving-shaft, communicating `with` ratchets f r on' the said drums by pawls p, as seen in fig. 1, so

that, at each revolution ofthe driving-shaft, the endless bands'D andE are advanced a certain given distance, andthis distance defines the length to be c ut from the sheet. Therefore, asthe material is fed down'past the cutter d, as deuoted in broken lines,

the revolving cutter, as it meets the xed cutter, cutsA oii so much of the sheet as has been fed, in the manner before described.

After one cut has been made, to free the sheet from the ixed cutter I arrange a lever, L, -npon a fulcrum, m, 'upon one arm of which is arranged a rod, n, (see iig. 2,) which. liesback of the sheet over the fixed cutter; and upon the cutter (or one end of the cuttercylinder) I arrange a stud, s, denoted in broken lines, iig. 2, so that, as the cutter a revolves, the said stud will strike the other arm, t, of the lever L, and throw lthe rod @forward tolforce the gum from the iixedcut- 'teu-to which it may. have. adhered, and thusprevent 1 theinter'ruption of the feed.

Owing to the nature of the material, the strip when out, unless prevented,l would fall in a folded mass, from which it would be difficult to return it to its original condition. r .To avoid this, and for convenience of handling, I arrange a drum, H, upon which has been wound a sheet, T, of fabric, at least as wide as the sheet of gum and the end of this sheet I pass around a drum, h, immediately below the xed cutter, as seen in iig. 2, to the drum I, so that, by the turning ofthe drum I the sheet will be wound from the vdrum H.

Onto this sheet the strip cutfrom the gum falls; and, in order that it may lie flat and smooth upon this sheet, I impart to the drum I a quick movement at the time oi' cutting-so quick that the en d of the strip out, striking` the moving sheet, is advanced faster than the strip falls, consequently the strip lies back-flat upon the said moving sheet5and this quick movement l vproduce by eccentric' gears, m and a; the one, m, xed to the driving-shaft, and the other to an intermediate shaft, f. (See g. 1.)-

From the shaft f power is communicated to the drum I by bands, as4 denoted in iig. l', the quick m0- tion of the shaft f occurring at the instant the strip is cut from the sheet of gum.

The strips fall successively'upon the sheet, (the said sheet havingfbeen previously prepared to prevent their adhering thereto,) and are wound with the sheet onto the drum I; and when the sheet has been entirely taken from the druin'H, the drum I is removed for the workman to take therefrom the strips as required, and

a new drum supplied.

The table C is also 'replenished with gum as often as the quantity thereon is consumed.

I clnim as my inventionl 3. In combination with the revolving cutter a, xed 1. The revolving cutter and iixed cutter coro- 1y cutter d, end a device for feeding the gum thereto, bined with the moving table G and endless band E so i the lever L, carrying the rod n, so as'to disenga-ge as to present the gum to the said ouitersin the mani the sheet of gum from the fixed cutter, substantially ner described. I as ses forth. Y

'2. In combination with the revolving cuttera, xed i1 CEAS. A. EN SIGN.

cutter d, and :Ldeviee for feeding the gum thereto, Witnesses:

tne arrangement of the sheet T, to receive the seid J. H. SHUMWAY, gum when cui,V and operating in the manner described. l A. J. TIBBITS. 

